A nature trail to nowhere

THESE are tought times in the world of nature. Horse chestnut tress are succumbing to a conduction known as bleeding canker and lobsters are not being allowed to devleop and breed properly - they don't reach sexual maturity until they they are six years old - before we fish them out of sea boil them alive and eat them.

Our plants and trees don't know what's hit them. An indifferent May, burning hot June and July, and a soggy August have all led to leaves dropping a month early and for blooms to start turning brown.

Nature is in turmoil. Global warming and climate change is being blamed but despite all the tough talk from Tony Blair and his ministers, there seems no real urgency to do anything about it.

Instead of encouraging us to travel by public transport, bus and rail fares are for too high for most people to be able to afford to switch to more sustainable transport. It's clearly a nonsense to charge a walk-on fare of £205 to travel by train from London to Manchester.

It's time for cheaper, more transparent fares if we want families to let the train take the strain, and cleaner, quieter and more comfortable buses if we are to use them to get to work insead of sitting in ever lengthening traffic jams comprised of one person in each car..